Iván Narváez

New Crocodyliforms from Southwestern Europe and Definition of a Diverse Clade of European Late Cretaceous Basal Eusuchians

The late Campanian-early Maastrichtian site of Lo Hueco (Cuenca, Spain) has provided a set of well-preserved crocodyliform skull and lower jaw remains, which are described here and assigned to a new basal eusuchian taxon, Lohuecosuchus megadontos gen. et sp. nov. The reevaluation of a complete skull from the synchronous site of Fox-Amphoux (Department of Var, France) allows us to define a second species of this new genus. Phylogenetic analysis places Lohuecosuchus in a clade exclusively composed by European Late Cretaceous taxa. This new clade, defined here as Allodaposuchidae, is recognized as the sister group of Hylaeochampsidae, also comprised of European Cretaceous forms. Allodaposuchidae and Hylaeochampsidae are grouped in a clade identified as the sister group of Crocodylia, the only crocodyliform lineage that reaches our days. Allodaposuchidae shows a vicariant distribution pattern in the European Late Cretaceous archipelago, with several Ibero-Armorican forms more closely related to each other than with to Romanian Allodaposuchus precedens.

Squamate finding in “Lo Hueco” (Late Campanian-Early Maastrichtian, Cuenca Province, Spain): the second non-marine pythonomorph lizard

Two squamate vertebrae were discovered in the site of “Lo Hueco” (Cuenca, Spain; Late Campanian-Early Maastrichtian), which has yielded a rich and diversified fossil fauna. Their anatomical and microanatomical features are described. They reveal that these vertebrae probably belong to a new genus of Pythonomorpha. This taxon corresponds to the second non-marine pythonomorph lizard hitherto described. Anatomical, microanatomical and sedimentological data suggest a terrestrial or amphibious mode of life. This discovery raises questions about the evolutionary history of pythonomorph lizards in non-marine deposits.KurzfassungIn der an Fossilien reichen Fundstelle Lo Hueco (Cuenca, Spanien; oberes Campanium- unteres Maastrichtium) sind zwei Wirbel von Squamata enthalten. Die anatomischen und mikroanatomischen Merkmale der beiden Wirbel werden im Detail beschrieben. Sie zeigen, dass diese Wirbel wahrscheinlich zu einer neuen Gattung von Pythonomorpha gehören und repräsentieren somit erst das zweite soweit bekannte Taxon einer nicht-marinen pythonomorphen Eidechse. Anatomische, mikroanatomische und sedimentologische Daten suggerieren eine terrestrische oder amphibische Lebensweise der Pythonomorpha aus Lo Hueco. Diese Entdeckung wirft Fragen über die evolutionäre Geschichte der pythonomorphen Eidechsen in nicht-marinen Ablagerungen auf.

A New Sail-Backed Styracosternan (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the Early Cretaceous of Morella, Spain.

A new styracosternan ornithopod genus and species is here described based on a partial postcranial skeleton and an associated dentary tooth of a single specimen from the Arcillas de Morella Formation (Early Cretaceous, late Barremian) at the Morella locality, (Castellón, Spain). Morelladon beltrani gen. et sp. nov. is diagnosed by eight autapomorphic features. The set of autapomorphies includes: very elongated and vertical neural spines of the dorsal vertebrae, midline keel on ventral surface of the second to fourth sacral vertebrae restricted to the anterior half of the centrum, a posterodorsally inclined medial ridge on the postacetabular process of the ilium that meets its dorsal margin and distal end of the straight ischial shaft laterally expanded, among others. Phylogenetic analyses reveal that the new Iberian form is more closely related to its synchronic and sympatric contemporary European taxa Iguanodon bernissartensis and Mantellisaurus atherfieldensis, known from Western Europe, than to other Early Cretaceous Iberian styracosternans (Delapparentia turolensis and Proa valdearinnoensis). The recognition of Morelladon beltrani gen. et sp. nov. indicates that the Iberian Peninsula was home to a highly diverse medium to large bodied styracosternan assemblage during the Early Cretaceous.

A new dryosaurid ornithopod (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) from the Late Jurassic of Portugal

ABSTRACT A new dryosaurid ornithopod, Eousdryosaurus nanohallucis, gen. et sp. nov., is described here based on a single specimen from the Late Jurassic Alcobaça Formation of Portugal. Eousdryosaurus nanohallucis is distinguished from all other dryosaurids by eight autapomorphic features and an unique combination of characters, some of which are also shared by other dryosaurids. Eousdryosaurus is linked with Dryosauridae, because the fourth trochanter is proximally placed and widely separated from the scar for the insertion of the M. caudifemoralis longus, which is restricted to the medial surface of the femoral shaft. Phylogenetic analysis nests Eousdryosaurus in an unresolved polytomy at the base of Dryosauridae together with Callovosaurus, Dryosaurus, and Kangnasaurus. The complete pes of Eousdryosaurus, which has a phalangeal formula of 1-3-4-5-0, supports the putative autapomorphic reduction of the dryosaurid pes that also occurs in parallel in more derived ornithopods.

New data on Late Jurassic sauropods of central and northern sectors of the Bombarral Sub-basin (Lusitanian Basin, Portugal)

Abstract The Upper Jurassic’s central and northern sectors of the Bombarral Sub-basin are relatively poor in sauropod material, highlighting the specimens (mainly teeth) found in the Guimarota mine (Leiria) and the Andrés (Pombal) fossil site. The study of published and the unpublished sauropod material allows for a revision of the present state of sauropod diversity of the Bombarral Sub-basin. These new specimens come from Pombal, Leiria, Batalha, Porto de Mós, Alcobaça and Caldas da Rainha, and include an almost complete posterior or middle dorsal neural spine and a partial caudal series. The systematic re-evaluation of the sauropod record of this sector indicates the presence of turiasaurs, diplodocines, titanosauriforms and an indeterminate eusauropod form. During the last part of the twentieth century, the discovery of fossil vertebrates has increased significantly in the sediments cropping out in the central and northern sectors of the Bombarral Sub-basin (Alcobaça and Bombarral Formations), improving our understanding of the Late Jurassic faunas of the Lusitanian Basin.

Upper Jurassic sauropod record in the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal): Geographical and lithostratigraphical distribution

Sauropod remains are relatively abundant in the Upper Jurassic sediments of the Lusitanian Basin. These dinosaurs are recorded in several sub-basins formed during the third rifting episode related to the evolution of the Lusitanian Basin. The Kimmeridgian-Tithonian sedimentary sequence is dominated by siliciclastic deposits, indicating a continental environment. Sauropods are present all along this mainly terrestrial sequence, being recorded in the Alcobaça, Praia da Amoreira-Porto Novo, Sobral, Freixial, and the Bombarral Formations, ranging from the early Kimmeridgian to the late Tithonian. Sauropoda is the most abundant dinosaur group in the Upper Jurassic fossil record of the Lusitanian Basin and is especially well-represented in the Bombarral and Turcifal Sub-basins. Several new specimens, so far unpublished, are reported here. The sauropod fauna identified mainly includes non-neosauropod eusauropods (including turiasaurs), diplodocoids (some specimens with diplodocine affinities), basal macronarians (non-camarasaurids and camarasaurids), and titanosauriforms (some specimens with brachiosaurid affinities). Macronarians, turiasaurs and diplodocoids are generally present along the entire Kimmeridgian-Tithonian continental to transitional deposits of the Lusitanian Basin, but the known fossil record for some more exclusive groups such as camarasaurids, brachiosaurids, and diplodocines, present a more restricted stratigraphic distribution. Pedro Mocho. The Dinosaur Institute, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., 90007 CA, Los Angeles, USA; Grupo de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, UNED, c/ Senda del Rey, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain; Laboratório de Paleontologia e Paleoecologia, Sociedade de História Natural, Polígono Industrial do Alto do Ameal, Pav.H02 e H06, 2565-641, Torres Vedras, Portugal. pmocho@nhm.org Rafael Royo-Torres. Fundación Conjunto Paleontológico de Teruel-Dinópolis/Museo Aragonés de Paleontología, av. Sagunto s/n. E-44002 Teruel, Spain. royo@dinopolis.com Fernando Escaso. Grupo de Biología Evolutiva, Facultad de Ciencias, UNED, c/ Senda del Rey, 9, 28040 Madrid, Spain; Laboratório de Paleontologia e Paleoecologia, Sociedade de História Natural, Polígono Mocho, Pedro, Royo-Torres, Rafael, Escaso, Fernando, Malafaia, Elisabete, de Miguel Chaves, Carlos, Narváez, Iván, Pérez-García, Adán, Pimentel, Nuno, Silva, Bruno C., and Ortega, Francisco. 2017. Upper Jurassic sauropod record in the Lusitanian Basin (Portugal): Geographical and lithostratigraphical distribution. Palaeontologia Electronica 20.2.27A: 1-50 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2017/1856-portuguese-sauropods Copyright:

Case 3743 – Allodaposuchus precedens Nopcsa, 1928 (Crocodyliformes: Eusuchia: Allodaposuchidae): proposed designation of a neotype

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 75.5 of the Code, is to set aside all type fixations for the crocodyliform Allodaposuchus precedens Nopcsa, 1928, and to designate a neotype. The type series of A. precedens includes specimens from the Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of Vălioara, housed at the Magyar Állami Földtani Intézet (Hungarian Geological Institute) in Budapest, Hungary. The original material includes several cranial and postcranial elements thought to correspond to the same specimen but the attribution of this set of remains as belonging to one individual cannot be confirmed. Therefore, subsequent papers considered only part of this set, a fragmentary skull table, as the lectotype of A. precedens. Given the recent description of several species closely related to A. precedens and the lack of a combination of exclusive characters that can diagnose the species based on the specimens studied by Nopcsa, we request that the Commission set aside all previous type fixations and designate a neotype for A. precedens. The neotype designation is of utmost importance for the objective identification of this species, which is necessary for future phylogenetic analyses and assessments of crocodyliform diversity.

Systematic study of the historical material of Upper Cretaceous reptiles from the Tremp Basin (Catalonia, Spain) housed at the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid)

PurposeThe development of the studies on Mesozoic reptiles of the Spanish record occurred much later than in several European countries such as United Kingdom, France or Germany. Thus, very scarce and punctual findings were performed in the second half of the 19th century, followed by the work of José Royo y Gómez, which was stopped by the Spanish Civil War. The professional surveys and studies carried out in the 1950s in the Upper Cretaceous levels of the Tremp Basin (Lleida, Catalonia, Spain) can be considered as the origins of the development of this discipline in Spain. The works in the Tremp Basin were performed through the collaboration of national and foreign researchers. The Spanish palaeontologist Emiliano Aguirre and the French Albert Félix de Lapparent published some preliminary notes on the vertebrate fauna identified there. However, no detailed systematic study of these historical remains was ever done.MethodsThe unpublished historical remains from the Tremp Basin collected by Aguirre and Lapparent, and preserved in the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid) collections, are studied here.ResultsThe analysis of unpublished historical documentation housed in the archive of that institution allows us to improve the knowledge about the history of these findings, as well as to recognize the precise sites from which each of these fossils come.ConclusionThe systematic study of these specimens, corresponding to turtles, crocodiles and dinosaurs, is performed here. They are attributed to Bothremydidae indet., cf. Pan-Cryptodira, cf. Allodaposuchidae, Titanosauria indet., Nodosauridae indet. and Ornithopoda indet.ResumenObjetivosEl desarrollo de los estudios sobre reptiles mesozoicos españoles se produjo mucho más tarde que en otros países europeos como Reino Unido, Francia o Alemania. En la segunda mitad del siglo XIX se realizaron hallazgos muy escasos y puntuales, seguidos por los trabajos de José Royo y Gómez, que fueron interrumpidos por la Guerra Civil Española. Las prospecciones y estudios profesionales que se llevaron a cabo en la década de 1950 en los niveles del Cretácico Superior de la Conca de Tremp (Lleida, Cataluña, España) pueden considerarse como el origen del desarrollo de esta disciplina en España. Estos trabajos se realizaron mediante la colaboración de investigadores nacionales y extranjeros. El paleontólogo español Emiliano Aguirre y el francés Albert Félix de Lapparent publicaron algunas notas preliminares sobre la fauna de vertebrados identificada en la zona. Sin embargo, nunca se ha realizado un estudio sistemático detallado de estos restos históricos.MetodologíaLos restos hallados en la Conca de Tremp por Aguirre y Lapparent, y preservados en el Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (Madrid), son analizados.ResultadosEl análisis de la documentación histórica inédita que se encuentra en el archivo de esta institución permite mejorar el conocimiento sobre la historia de estos hallazgos, así como identificar con precisión los puntos de muestreo de cada uno de estos fósiles.ConclusionesEn este trabajo se realiza el estudio sistemático de estos ejemplares, correspondientes a tortugas, cocodrilos y dinosaurios. Bothremydidae indet., cf. Pan-Cryptodira, cf. Allodaposuchidae, Titanosauria indet., Nodosauridae indet. y Ornithopoda indet. son identificados.